With just three more races remaining in the season lets take a look out how each driver is doing in the class championship running.
Scott Santiani running in both P2 and GT4 is shaping up to another great season for the veteran. He has scored an impressive 6 podium finishes so far this season! He is the current points leader in GT4 and is sitting in fourth place in the P2 standings. Scott is currently the two time defending champion for the GT4 class can he make it three in a row!?
P2 Points Standing -
1. Greg Olsen 30.5
2. Tim McKinney 26
3. Milan Diebel 21.5
4. Scott Santiani 16
5. Zach Koping 16
GT4 Points Standing –
1. Scott Santiani 34.5
2. Zach koping 32.5
3. Bob Segui
4. Alfredo Oyague
5. Travis Geny
In GT2 both Jimmy and Ralph have been doing a fantastic job competing in there first ever season in the SIRS. Not to mention a class full of veterans of 4+ years to the SIRS. Jimmy had an awesome performance week 4 and got his first podium finish of the season. Each race Jimmy has gotten faster and is beginning to put pressure on the veterans. Ralph has showed improvements each week as well. He has consistently gotten faster each week and has shaved off a full second on his average lap times since SIRS began!
GT2 Points Standing -
1. Mike Smith 28.5
2. Adam Kellerman 27.5
3. Brent Palmer 21
4. Kyle Hamer 16
5. Jimmy Moore 12
6. Pat Cherry 10
7. Chris Naficy 9
8. Ralph Boeckman 6
David Tanioka has been having a outstanding season putting him first place in GT3! He has put major pressure on GT3 defending champion and teammate Joe Filipanko. David is driving like a SIRS veteran in his first year and has a very good chance of taking the class championship if he keeps up his performance. Joe has scored 3 podium finishes this season and will need a few more to stay in the running for class championship.
GT3 Points Standing –
1. David Tanioka 27
2. Tim McKinney 25
3. Joe Filipanko 24
4. Fernando Gaete 22
5. Britain Smith 13
With the season half over and some very impressive performances, team Grip and Hammer hopes to bring home a few class championships this year!
At work or amongst friends, I’m occasionally bombarded with questions about running, cycling or weight management. Most of the time it has to do with, “how do I approach…” or “I have this pain” or “why can’t I…”. Like most long term athletes we tend to learn and give advice on our personal experiences. Usually, I will tell people that they should see a professional (doctor, weight management specialist or someone of the like), but having said that I will tell people of my thoughts and my personal experiences.
As of late though, I’ve found that I need to start to listen to my own words. I tell people how to workout but then I haven’t been following my own advice for my own personal workouts. Then when I get injured or frustrated, I think to myself, why can’t I follow my own advice?!?!
The other day, I decided that I’ve lost enough weight that I could go for a run. However, I made a promise to myself that I needed to run slow and my goal for the workout was just to relax and work into my run. My goal was to do 10-minutes per mile pace. However; when I looked down at my heart-rate-monitor, I was running 8:30-minutes per mile pace! Oddly enough though, I felt relaxed and I was enjoying my run. My point was that my mind was thinking that the 10-min/mile was going to be relaxing for me but my body was telling me otherwise. I went by how I felt and it reminds me of how many times I’ve told people to go by how you feel. Everyone’s pace will be different according to feeling. That was one of the best runs I’ve had in a long time and it reminded me how much I enjoyed running.
The problem with workouts that I have now a days is that I think that every workout has to be “hard” when in fact that’s quite the opposite. Workouts need to be efficient but effective to an overall goal. Most of the racing season is now over and it’s time to put the body into a different mode. Workouts should not be as intense but they should have a purpose… a goal. So if you’re going for a long run or ride, keep the heart rate lower and there’s no need to be training at “race pace”. So set your daily goals (if you have any) and remember to “enjoy” your workouts versus “laboring” over them.
Round 2 would begin a series first running the track in reverse direction. This would be a challenge for drivers to find the fast line around the track and adapt to some very slick spots we don’t normally drive on while running in the forward direction. The starting grid would be determined how we finished in week one, than inverted. So round one winners would be starting in last place and so on. GT1 would be the first class running tonight so we all were able to watch other drivers and learn what we could before our drivers buckled up!
The second race of the night hosted P2 and GT2 class. This was the most exciting race of the night to watch but had to be a nightmare for the drivers. At the drop of the green flag drivers would begin shuffling for position. The first corner had a good jam leading to a few drivers being spun out. Scott chose to make a early pit stop to get out of all the mayhem ahead of him. When Scott came out of the pits he would be behind most of the GT class. The next lap another P2 driver was exiting the pits and forced Scott into a GT driver, to avoid them Scott had to break hard resulting in him spinning out. Scott now in last place would have to fight his way back to the lead pack. On lap 30 Scott had caught 4th place and made the pass for position. With 5 Laps to go the yellow flag came out, a GT2 driver had spun and was getting back on track. Scott came into the corner with caution and fifth place had plowed into him spinning him out and loosing position. With no black flag on the driver that spun Scott, he would be unable to regain his position and finish the race in 5th place. Jimmy and Ralph would have similar outcomes to their race as well. Jimmy was having a great race and had worked his way to 4th place. With five laps to go an aggressive move from a P2 driver would spin Jimmy out sending him back to 7th place. Ralph had many issues all race from aggressive passes from the P2 drivers and finished the night in 8th place.
Race three would be GT3 and P1. David would make an early stop on lap 2 and take advantage of some open track. Running very consistent, David would work his way to second place behind Joe who had not yet made his pit stop. On lap 31 Joe came into the pits and David was able to take first place with a six second lead! The race would end with David taking the checkered flag and Joe finishing behind him. Great Podium finishes for the team!
The last race of the night would be GT4. Scott starting in the back decided to make his stop on lap 1. The rest of the field was battling for position while Scott had open track running very consistent laps. After all the GT4 drivers had made their pit stops Scott would claim first place. Scott finished the race taking the checkered flag with a 6 second lead. Another dominating performance by Scott!
Another great night of racing for the team! Join us next week for Round 3 Monday October 12th!
I debated for a long while, if I wanted to purchase a completed bike or build a bike from specific components that I would get to chose. In the end it came down to a sale at www.backcountryoutlet.com for a frame that was in my size and in the wheel size I wanted. I wanted the 650c wheel size because that what my other previous two bikes were and I was familiar with them. Since I’m a shorter person, this only made sense. After the frame purchase, I went to my friend at Zipp to help me with chosing the right components for me and he helped with staying within my budget. Zipp Speed Wepontry is a company that I really believe in and I feel that they really do put out a superior product. My view is somewhat biased though because rode one of their bikes for many years. What a great ride it was.
It feels so good when you start to pedal a bike and you know in an instant that it’s going to work out perfect. Putting this bike together had some challenges and compromises. My evening with Gary Allen was phenomenal. Having been in the industry for many years and building his own bikes (which are so nice), this project still held some challenges. As Gary entertained me for the evening with stories of races past (most of them I remember!) and building this bike, not once did I feel like there wasn’t something that we couldn’t overcome. However, the end result could not have turn out better. I’ve already ridden the bike on the trainer a couple of times and the power transfer is solid, in comparison to my older Zipp2001 from 1993. This machine is strong but surprisingly light. When we weighed it at the end of our build with older heavier wheels, it was approximately 15.5-lbs. With the newer and lighter wheels, it should have saved at least 0.5-lbs. I’m curious what it’s actual weight is.
SPECS:
- Frameset – 2008 Quintana Roo Lucero Lite
- Frameset Specs: Size – XS 650c wheel size
- Headset – FSA/Cane Creek (mixed)
- Handlebars – Zipp Vuka Bull
- Aerobars – Zipp Vuka Clips and Zipp Vuka Chicane Extensions
- Brake Levers – Zipp Vuka
- Brake Calipers – Cane Creek
- Shifters – SRAM TT 900
- Front Derailleur – SRAM Force 10-Speed Braze-On
- Rear Derailleur – SRAM Force 10-Speed
- Bottom Bracket – FSA Ceramic
- Crankset – FSA
- Chain – SRAM 1090 10-Speed
- Pedals – Speedplay Zero
- Front Wheel (Race) – Zipp 909
- Rear Wheel (Race) – Zipp 909 Disc (Dimpled)
- Rear Cassette – SRAM 1070 10-Speed 23-11
- Seat – Selle Italia Flight Titanium
Next:
- Bar Tape – Forte Carbon Handlebar Tap
- Derailleur Adjustment (Front and Rear)
- Training Wheels (clincher preferred)
- XLab Carbon Wing
- Zipp SL145 Stem (100-mm)
Stats:
- Approx. Weight (Race Setup) – 15.0-lbs
Special Thanks:
- Gary Allen for spending hours building this bike and entertaining me with great stories from great times.
- My contact at Zipp for helping me choose the right parts for this project.
The Little Monster
